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Summary of 2006 Schools ASHA Schools Conference

My trip to Phoenix for the 2006 Schools ASHA Conference was a blast. I have never been to a national conference so I was really excited to learn that I had been selected as the winner of the scholarship. I traveled alone for the first 10 minutes of my trip. I met another speech path from a neighboring district in the airport before boarding the plane. We became traveling buddies and friends before the quick weekend was over. I heard many great and motivating speakers during the course of two and a half days.

The workshops that I attended covered teaching language through written context, using RtI to serve those simple articulation cases, and managing unmanageable caseloads. A roundtable discussion was held one afternoon and there I learned that my challenges are not unique to me or to my way of thinking. It was both reassuring and encouraging to discover that others encounter the same issues I do on a daily basis. Last, but not least, the exhibitor's hall was a lot of fun. Vendors lined this huge room and I was able to see, touch and play with all kinds of speech pathology materials. Discounts were offered on all products as well.

The hotel was beautiful, the food was good and the company was great. I came home extremely relaxed and refreshed, but motivated and eager for the upcoming school year. I would recommend the ASHA schools conference to anyone contemplating attending. It was a definite energizer.

Jan McEver